A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This invention relates generally to electronic appliance controls and, more particularly, to reconfigurable control systems for electronically controlled appliances.
At least some known appliances include an electronic appliance control that is programmed by a manufacturer i.e., originally programmed. An appliance owner desiring to upgrade an electronic appliance control has had little choice but to replace the entire appliance. However, replacing the appliance in order to obtain the benefits of an upgraded electronic control and/or upgraded programming for the control is typically not cost effective.
In one aspect, a method for changing a control program that controls at least some operations of an appliance is provided. The appliance includes at least one electronic control that executes the control program. The method includes connecting the electronic control to a communication device configured to communicate with at least one user device via a network. The method also includes changing the control program via the user device and the network.
In another aspect, a method for operating an appliance controlled by a dedicated appliance controller interfacing with an appliance communication controller is provided. The appliance communication controller is configured to interpret and transmit control data for operating the appliance to the dedicated appliance controller. The appliance communication controller is connected to a modem. The method includes establishing a communication link with the appliance communication controller using the modem and supplying control data to the appliance communication controller using the communication link.
In yet another aspect, a communication interface for operating an appliance controlled by a dedicated appliance controller is provided. The interface includes an appliance communication controller interfacing with the dedicated appliance controller and an external host controller interfacing with the appliance communication controller and configured to receive control data from an operator.